


Seven Buns

by divisionten



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Family Feels, Gen, Holidays, M/M, Sea Salt Family (Kingdom Hearts), Team as Family, setsubun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:08:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28305816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/divisionten/pseuds/divisionten
Summary: There's a chill in the air; it's the end of the year in Twilight Town. Lea, Isa, Roxas and Xion have been living in Twilight Town a few months now, living, working, and trying (or not) to live mundane lives. But when an annual Twilight Town tradition brings up bad memories and a very real danger to Xion and Roxas, the group have to navigate the new waters together.As a... family.Isa's still not used to that.(For the 2020 KH Secret Santa on Tumblr!)
Relationships: Hayner & Olette & Pence & Roxas & Xion (Kingdom Hearts), Isa & Lea & Roxas & Xion (Kingdom Hearts), Isa/Lea (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 36





	Seven Buns

**Author's Note:**

> Hello Kalu-chan! This is for you and I hope you enjoy.
> 
> Also, please do not make PVC pipe potato launchers at home. They can be extremely dangerous if the back blows out. So I did not explain how the Twilight Gang built theirs. Watch Mythbusters if you want to see one in action.
> 
> Thank you!

Xion twirled her stylus in class. School was something odd to get used to, for sure. The only formal education she’d had was in the memories she’d stolen and copied from Sora, and even those had sort of hazed over with time.

It didn’t help that nobody— pun much intended— in their little family had ever finished grade school; Roxas was in the same situation as she, except with clearer Sora memories, and Isa and Lea had both become Nobodies at the gut-wrenching age of fourteen-or-so.

After much deliberation, Roxas and Xion allowed themselves to have Kairi’s memories of school copied into them; she’d kept up her studies while Riku and Sora were galivanting across the stars. Lea and Isa, meanwhile, accepted the same from Leon, both equally shocked after they’d woken to have two years of college calculus at their disposal. Leon merely shrugged; he’d found some textbooks and read off patrols during his time in Traverse Town.

But all it did for Roxas and Xion was put them on the appropriate footing for their supposed age level, the fact that they were both not even three yet a secret amongst the quad of them that had settled in a small, quiet brownstone in the sixth district of Twilight Town. Conveniently, possibly a little too convenient, it had suddenly gone on the market only a day before the four of them decided they were ready to leave Disney Castle— a nice albeit temporary state of affairs after the events at the Graveyard— and seek out a home to rent or buy.

The fact that the home was acquired through McDuck Realty should have been a giant neon sign, but the four of them didn’t care. It came unfurnished, but Even just had a rug he couldn’t stand and needed to get rid of, Queen Minnie was redoing the sitting room of the castle and a set of armchairs just had to go, and… who was anyone even fooling? Most everyone else had a home to return to, even Naminé was welcomed with open arms to King Ansem’s household.

Roxas bit his tongue on that one.

He was currently biting the back of his pen, now, too, as the teacher reminded them they had three days off the following week for Seven Buns, or some other local holiday, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t saddle them all with a writing assignment about it over the weekend before the festivities hit.

The bell rung, and Xion was pulled from her mild daydream with a sharp jab to her shoulder. Hayner grinned sharply as she turned around. “So? Your family get their letter yet?”

“Letter?” Xion asked curiously.

He grinned wider. “Come on, the gang’ll find a place to talk away from the normies.”

“You’re a normie,” Xion reminded him with a giggle.

“A normie who knows you ‘n Rox aren’t from here originally. C’mon, if you’re giving me the thousand-yard stare, you don’t know what Setsubun is.”

* * *

“So…” Roxas started, kicking the dirt with a shoe while sitting on some discarded Struggle crates. They were at the Usual Spot for lunch, allowed to leave the school campus to get food so long as they got back at the right time and were in good standing on attendance. Nobody needed to know that sometimes Naminé and Ventus filled in for the two of them if they went off to play hooky. To be fair, Xion and Roxas reveled in their normal, boring lives for once. But occasionally they needed to go back to Radiant Garden to make sure their Replicas were working correctly, and it could take a few days to run all the diagnostics. Xion didn’t mind the temporary hit in her math grades in exchange for Naminé helping her pass art.

“So?” Pence asked, ripping into kara-age from the convenience store next door to their hideout.

“What’s this Seven Buns thing? Is it like the Seven Wonders?”

“Setsubun,” Olette corrected. “New Year’s. We get three days off, New Year’s Eve, Day, and Bean Throwing Day.”

Roxas raised an eyebrow. “Bean… **_wait_**. Oh **_no_**.”

“Bean throwing?” Xion asked. “You don’t mean…” Roxas and Xion linked gazes. “That was because of a **_holiday_**?”

“Wait, you two know what Bean Throwing Day is?” Hayner asked. “I guess it’s on other worlds too, then isn’t…”

“We should go home,” Roxas said sternly, noticing the color rapidly draining from the other Nobody’s face.

Xion nodded in silence, white as a sheet.

Olette blinked, flicking her eyes between them. “Oh… oh no! Is it something we said?”

“I’ll have Isa call us out sick,” Roxas monotoned, gently hefting up a hyperventilating Xion, before stepping forward into a corridor of brackish purple darkness, the portal closing behind him with a wet shlorping sound as the air rushed in.

Hayner blinked at it a moment, processing. He knew Roxas and Xion could make those things, though they rarely used them in front of the three of them. He could probably count the instances on a hand, and only done in the privacy of closed doors or the secrecy of their Spot.

Pence broke the silence. “Wait. Xion and Roxas and their… are they their dads?”

“They’re their dads,” Hayner and Olette said in a flat unison, nodding as they thought of the pair of spiky men they jokingly called Red Oni and Blue Oni when Lea and Isa weren’t in earshot.

“Yeah, well,” Pence continued, wrinkling his nose at the smell of ozone left behind. “They’re Nobodies, aren’t they? Or weren’t they? That’s why they can do the zippy-zap thing.”

“Don’t tell me I’ve beaned Roxas,” Hayner cried out, pulling his hair.

“No,” Olette said matter-of-factly— brandishing her biodegradable plastic spork at him. “But by the way Xion reacted, you probably hit **_her_**.”

* * *

Roxas entered their house, the perpetual golden-red sunset streaking in through the bay window. Isa was probably still working— he’d gotten a job as bookkeeper for a few of the small businesses downtown, and on Thursdays he was handling inventory orders for Little Chef’s bistro, and payroll for the Moogles. Roxas could probably rip open a corridor to the Bistro’s broom closet— both the chef du cuisine as well as the restaurant’s owner were of the select few who knew what Roxas really was, the former from the trust Sora had placed in him while the latter was Donald’s uncle and equally aware of their unique circumstances. Unfortunately, that would leave Xion alone in the middle of a panic attack. So, he made a second, barely-there opening in the foyer, sliding them into her bedroom without having to jostle her up the stairs.

Roxas squeezed her hand. “ ** _Sleep_** ,” he commanded, the power of his magic behind his word, and she did.

Roxas sighed and pulled out his phone, ringing Isa without a second thought. Lea spent his days training under Terra and Aqua with Kairi, and the last thing Roxas needed was to call him when he was in the middle of a fight, practice or otherwise. The worst damage Roxas could do to Isa was make him put a decimal in the wrong spot.

“What’s wrong?” Isa demanded, skipping formalities.

Isa quickly learned that Roxas was very strict about keeping himself on rules unless there was a good reason to break them— no playing hooky unless it was a scheduled check up day or Nobodies were getting too close to town, no video games in class, and certainly no calling Isa at work, unless there was a good reason to do so.

Isa had been hesitant to move in with Lea, because Lea now came with children, and he’d convinced himself he wouldn’t be good with them. It certainly had nothing to do with how concerned he was that Xion and Roxas would hate him. He wasn’t **_wrong_** , per se, but he was hardly **_right_** either. Roxas was an angry child— teenager? — but not a disorderly one. And the boy had every right to be angry, about so many things. But Roxas and Xion were settling in comfortably to a life of almost-normalcy, and with it, the heat seemed to dissipate.

Though it could come back fierce, and typically without warning for anyone involved, Roxas included.

“Xion,” Roxas spat into the receiver.

“Where are you?”

“ ** _Home_**.”

Isa didn’t hesitate. “Open a portal for me in the Bistro broom closet.”

Roxas thrust out his free hand, tearing a sloshing hole in reality. A shadow peered through before sliding properly into Xion’s room, acknowledging Xion under the thrall of magic sprawled on her bed.

“Explain.”

Roxas deflated like an expired party balloon, crumpling onto the golden hardwood. Isa eyed him, then slowly seated himself down at eye level across from the teenager-that-wasn’t.

“I can wait, but please close the portal behind me. I will call your school while you compose yourself.”

Roxas didn’t lift his gaze, just one hand, weakly snapping the thing shut. Isa didn’t retain any of his abilities upon recompleting, the only one of the four who failed to do so. He didn’t question it, and mostly didn’t mind. But relying on the rest of his— **_his_**! — little family for transportation still took getting used to.

Slowly Roxas raised his head as Isa clicked his phone and stuffed it in a pocket. “Well?” Isa asked, trying to smile gently. He knew he still had to work on displaying emotions in a way that didn’t make onlookers cringe.

“Remember when… when we were all in the Organization?”

Isa nodded solemnly, saying nothing.

“Axel, Xion, and I were here a lot.”

“I am aware that the three of you hoodlums never came straight back to the castle after missions, yes,” Isa said with a smirk, eliciting a small laugh from Roxas. “Go on.”

“Axel and I were practicing summoning our lesser Nobodies, while Xion was trying to learn how to order the local Dusks around. We… thought nobody saw us, but then like… this hoard of angry people started throwing little bean bags at us. I think one of them was even launching them from a PVC pipe or something.”

“Lea did tell me about that, yes. I made sure it did not show on the records.”

Roxas swallowed a little. “Turns out they weren’t aiming at us specifically. It’s… a holiday?”

“Throwing small bags at the Nobodies?” Isa asked confused.

Roxas nodded. “We have off for it next week.”

“That does explain the odd letter we received. I take it Xion did not take the news well?” Isa peered up at the bed, where the sleep spell was beginning to fade off.

Roxas nodded quietly; Isa leaned forward and tousled his hair to a half-hearted groan.

“I need to get back to work, Roxas. I’ll make sure Xion is stable, but then I need a shortcut, if-you-please.”

“Yeah. ‘Course.”

“Thank you.”

* * *

Xion twiddled her thumbs at the table.

“Hey, kiddo, turn that frown upside down,” Lea insisted.

“Lea, do not force the subject,” Isa said sternly, reaching to take the butter dish on the other side of the table without disturbing her.

Lea visibly recoiled in shock, not that the man ever did anything halfway. He staggered sitting in his chair, flinging sideways hard enough to knock a bony shoulder to the top of Roxas’s head. “Isa is showing concern?! What emotions will he have next?”

Isa rolled his eyes and shook his head. “I am easing back into my humanity at my own pace, but no. It has to do with a local holiday that upset Xion so. One of us should take the day off and stay home with them. Maybe we could even leave and go somewhere else for a few days. Destiny Islands would be nice.”

Lea nodded. “It’s pretty chilly here, not gonna lie. But what kinda local holiday’s the prob-“

Isa waved a ripped envelope in Lea’s view.

“ ** _Oh_**. I didn’t realize the kids had off for that. That’s bonkers.”

“Twilight Town has had naturally occurring Nobodies for a very long time, not a surprise when the world is neither of light nor darkness,” Isa explained, as he eyed Xion slowly pull the bowl of mashed potatoes towards her, almost angrily splattering a spoonful in the middle of her plate. At least she was making the effort to eat, and she was listening.

Isa continued. “I suppose you three were just here in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“Why beans?” Roxas asked.

Isa shrugged. “That would likely be something to ask the locals. Did it sting when you were pelted?”

“Yeah, I felt… really tired and Xion couldn’t do magic, then passed out. Lea had to pick both of us up and haul us away.”

“Perhaps the bean bags are infused with a spell, or there’s some property in them that is an inherent Nobody repellant. Either way, I cannot begrudge the locals the tradition. Most here have neither combat skill nor magical proficiency. They’ve found a method that works in keeping what they see as monsters away and have made it an event.”

Xion frowned, finally speaking up. “I don’t want to travel away for it. Setsubun.”

“Xion, Lea and I are no longer Nobodies, but you and Roxas still are. The bean bags are likely not safe for you to be near, if they caused such a reaction from you.”

“It’s because I’m scared,” Xion admitted, pushing the potatoes around on her plate.

Lea smiled grandly with understanding. “Okay, kiddo. But if you want to jet at any point, we’ll high-tail it somewhere else. At least this time around Isa and I can carry one of you if something goes wrong. Now eat something, I’ll pull out the ice cream if I have to.”

Isa leaned around the table, elbowing him. “Dinner before dessert.”

“Come on, it’s almost New Years, loosen up.”

“Me? You’re **_too_** loose, Lea. You loosen up any more and you’ll just be a worm.”

“Yeah well… well you’re a boring square! A cube of wood!”

“Practical and useful,” Isa countered with a chuckle.

“Axel just called you a blockhead,” Roxas hissed under his breath, holding back a laugh of his own.

“Oh, did he now? Which one of us thought they knew how to flambé because they saw Little Chef do it one time?”

“Xion used water magic right away, okay?”

Xion finally broke into a small smile. “Ansem had to pay for damages though. You still owe him.”

“Ah!” Lea said, back of his hand to his forehead as if he were about to faint from shock. “Her Highness graces us with her presence!”

Xion scooped up a spoonful of potato, held the utensil horizontally, and with a wicked grin, pulled back on the tip, sending a splatter of potato and butter directly between Lea’s eyes.

“Isaaaaaaa!”

“I’m sorry, did something happen?” Isa asked deadpan. “Forgive me, my mind was elsewhere a moment.”

* * *

The four of them curled up on the sofa, Xion with a smudge of blue residue across her nose from her after-potato dessert, Isa slowly reading through the details of the letter.

**_New Resident:_ **

**_The City Council is aware of other worlds, as are some of the residents. We are aware you’ve come to this one from elsewhere, and, as such, we have sent a letter to inform you of a local, and quite necessary tradition. On the second of January each year, we citizenry work together to strengthen the border and protect ourselves against the monsters that lurk in the wilderness outside the city. Please have all members of your family twelve and older report to your district post office to receive supplies by December 31 st. If for any reason you are unable to participate (such as pregnancy, illness, caring for those under twelve, and so forth) contact the district office for alternative ways to help or receive a pardon for the year._ **

**_To thank everyone for their service in keeping Twilight Town safe for all, free dinner and a full carnival will be held after the proceedings._ **

**_Twilight Town relies on all its residents to keep us safe._ **

— ** _Mayor LeFue_**

“By this,” Roxas said, reading it again, “that doesn’t necessarily mean they want us throwing bean bags at Nobodies. Who knows, they could have us on cooking duty for the town-wide dinner.”

“As long as Isa is the one cooking,” Lea said with a shrug as he left a few embers loose from his fingertips. “Learned my lesson.”

“Ahem,” Isa commented, swatting Lea’s hand. “Not in the house.”

“Spoilsport.”

“I will call the entire fire department on you.”

Lea stuck his tongue out in a raspberry. “How about this? I start and finish early tomorrow. Isa, you only work the morning, right?”

Isa nodded.

“And we have a half day Friday,” Roxas finished. “We going to go down to the post together and find out what our jobs are?”

Lea nodded. “Yep.”

* * *

Isa winced. Crowds were still something of a sore subject for him, and he grit his teeth while he dug his nails a little too sharply into Lea’s wrist. If Lea minded, he said nothing. He may have lost his Nobody powers, but he could still sense hearts, and large groups of people, well…

He was thankful Master Yen Sid was only a train ride away. Some sleepless nights, he could walk in the never-ending golden hour of the city down to the station and ride out to his tower, getting magic lessons as a normal human this time. It was quelling his remaining power at least, if not channeling it constructively.

Isa sighed while Lea rubbed small circles in his palm. Xion trotted obliviously ahead, taking the lead as the quad shuffled into line at the post office, picking up their boxes as well as the mail for the day. Isa wondered why the items weren’t simply dropped off at homes, but he supposed it was to ensure everyone signed off on their parcels in person.

“Next?”

Xion stepped forward, flashing her school ID. “My family is with me,” she added, gesturing to the three boys behind her. Roxas, Isa, and Lea pulled out their own cards from pockets and wallets.

“Ah. The Eclairer family. One moment.” Eclairer wasn’t Isa’s, Lea’s, or Sora’s last names (Sora a proxy for the biological parents Xion and Roxas lacked), but Ventus had suggested it, mentioning it meant Lightbringers in an old language he’d found in a dictionary tucked in the back of the Departure castle library. Lea didn’t know if it was true, and both he and Xion were still darkness-magic aligned, all told, but there was something… nice… about it, in a sappy sort of way.

The four of them could use a little spot of nice-but-sappy. Lux knows they earned it.

“Ahhh, offworlders!” the postal worker said with a clap of her hands, trying to not slam a large box with handle down on the counter. “It’s your first year celebrating Setsubun? You four have been paired up with the Hawthorne family. Here’s their address, if you haven’t met them. And your boxes, each of you. I’m surprised. They usually give kitchen duty to newcomers, but it looks like all of you have beans. Kitchen duty is just a letter. Hang on while I get the other three boxes from the back.”

“Wait,” Isa called as she scurried to the back room. “This is **_one person’s supply_**?”

* * *

“Two-twenty-eight, two-twenty-six… ah. Here,” Isa looked up at the house, not quite a mansion, but considerably larger than the rest of those on the row. “Two-twenty-four. I’m both shocked and impressed that the wealthy of this town don’t wheedle their way out of civic duty.” After straining to haul their boxes back to their brownstone, Isa insisted they stop at the bistro, pick up a fruit tart, and introduce themselves to their helpers. The four of them hadn’t really integrated with their neighborhood all that much— Lea the least of the four as he worked and trained off-world.

“Why is Hayner’s bike chained to a post?” Roxas asked aloud.

“Uh… hey Rox.” An embarrassed blonde poked a head out of the detached garage. “You… uh… didn’t need to visit here.”

“Wait, is this **_your_** house?” Xion asked, surprised, as Hayner shrunk a little more. “Your family’s loaded.”

“Shhhhhh,” Hayner hissed, embarrassed, flailing hands, one holding a pair of pliers a little too loosely for Isa’s liking. “Please don’t tell Pence and Olette. I don’t want it to get awkward.”

Isa raised an eyebrow. He certainly understood the sentiment. His family had been quite well off in Radiant Garden, while Lea’s family… hadn’t. They weren’t poor, but Lea never had the luxuries Isa took for granted until the two of them apprenticed themselves to Ansem.

Isa cleared his throat. “Are your parents home, Hayner?”

“Bl-er, Isa, ah, yeah,” Hayner said, embarrassed, dropping the tool on the paving stones. “Yeah, they just got in. I’m not in trouble, am I?”

“Unless you’ve committed tax evasion, no,” Isa replied with a wry smile.

“I’m not even sure how to reply to that. Come on, I’ll let you in.”

* * *

“Ah, Isa, a pleasure to see you again.” Mrs. Violet Hawthorne said with a beaming smile as Hayner led them into a gleaming kitchen.

“Oh, this explains quite a bit,” Isa said, sheepishly holding out the tart box. “Hello, Vice Mayor. I didn’t connect the dots that you put your family in charge of ours.”

Lea flicked his eyes between Isa and Hayner’s mother, awaiting an explanation from someone. Both stood awkwardly, shuffling and trying to make as little eye contact as possible.

“Hayner, dear, why don’t you take Isa’s children to your room? They seem to be your age.”

“He knows,” Isa sighed. “And they’re classmates.”

Violet fidgeted. “And your partner?” she asked, glancing at Lea.

“Maybe we should all sit, and I can fill in the gaps,” Isa suggested. “Both our families,” he added, hesitating on the last word. It was still a concept he was becoming used to.

* * *

Violet led them into a sitting room, carrying the tart and a tea caddy. “Who knows what, exactly?” she asked gently, as she, her husband Hunter, Hayner, and the so-called Eclairers sat in varying degrees of awkward discomfort.

Isa sighed out, speaking not to Violet but the three Nobodies seated around him. “When we first moved here, you know I handled all the paperwork. There aren’t many worlds aware of outsiders, and coming here over, say, Traverse Town was hardly a discussion. When an off worlder asks to settle here, however, there must be promise of employment or proof of financial assistance, as well as proof of character. Yen Sid and Scrooge both did this for us.”

“Yen Sid too?” Lea asked surprised. “Always thought he hated me.”

“He doesn’t like you much, no, but he does not wish to see you harmed,” Isa admitted. “You’re a bit too… er, **_loud_** , for lack of a better word, for his taste.”

Lea winced. “I mean, fair.”

“And at the time, I did something behind all of your backs,” Isa admitted. “I told the Vice Mayor who— and **_what_** — we were.”

Lea, Xion, and Roxas’s face fell. “You did **_what_**?” Lea asked, trying and failing to keep his emotions in check.

“Honestly, Mr. Eclairer, sir. It’s my fault.” Violet piped in. “I had a few photographs, you see, from Setsubun a few years back. We never had Nobodies in black coats before. My son and his friends found them, and one of them took the shots.”

“Pence,” Hayner admitted sheepishly. “Always has his camera. We thought the guys in black were just some people who were dumb and got too close to toss their beans, but then they started stumbling when they got hit. Or… when **_you_** did, I mean. I’m really sorry I beaned you guys. It seems to seriously hurt the Nobodies, so…”

“Yeah, it does,” Xion admitted, preoccupied with her shoelaces. “A **_lot_**.”

“I…” Violet started, trying to figure out what to say. “So, it’s really true? Isa, I can’t say I thought you were lying but…”

Lea stood up, grinning awkwardly as he ripped open a corridor, sliding though it to end up on the far side of the room, closing both ends as he walked back to sit down next to Isa.

“Wow,” Hunter said quietly, flicking eyes between. “I just… wow.”

“Dad, you see Nobodies in the forest do it all the time,” Hayner said, rolling his eyes. “It’s not that weird.”

“Yes, but the ones outside the walls aren’t human, they don’t sit in your living room drinking tea and having conversations,” Hunter replied, scratching at the back of his neck. “Apologies if that was offensive. Was that offensive?”

“None taken, really,” Lea admitted. “And it’s not actually a Nobody thing. Some humans can do that too. But, er, in our case it is one.”

“Riku,” Roxas grumbled, irritated under his breath.

Violet looked to Hayner. “You’ve known this whole time?”

Hayner shrugged. “It’s a real long story, Mom, and not mine to tell.”

Violet curled her fingers at her knees. “Not one of the four of you act like the silver creatures though.”

“If you mean that we don’t attack humans,” Isa said, looking distant, “no. The silver creatures are called Dusks. They have no higher mind, and only feed. Nobodies that look like humans eat like humans. We wouldn’t have a reason to attack. We know how to shop at the grocery.”

Lea snorted. “ ** _You_** do. I come back with ten gallons of ice cream and you tell me it’s not a balanced diet.”

The room collectively laughed heavily at that, the tension finally dissipating out of the room like the steam off their teas.

“Stay for dinner, then,” Violet said with a small smile. “You’ve all been here three months now and we’ve never properly caught up.”

* * *

“…so we would just come here after we were done with things on other worlds,” Roxas admitted, slowly unfurling at the dinner table as he realized Hayner’s parents had no desire to share their secret. And if anyone knew, well, besides those that Roxas had personally told, they seemed okay.

He’d have words with Isa later though, if Lea didn’t beat him to it.

“So, the— the Dusks— they weren’t caused by anyone or anything?” Hunter asked.

Xion shook her head. “They just sort of… congregate on a few worlds. This is one of them.”

“You know the eerie white moon in the sky?” Isa suggested. “It’s because this world is close to that one. It used to be habited by Nobodies like us, but no longer.”

“That place was your home?” Hayner asked. “You never talked about it.”

Roxas and Xion both stared at their plates.

“Sorry,” Hayner said quickly. “Forget it. Show Mom and Dad some other tricks.”

“Not at the table,” Isa hurriedly commented as Lea flashed a conspiratorial grin. “I have said it many times before, but I do not wish to call the fire department.”

“Ah, another fire-starter,” Violet said with a sigh. “Hunter, you have competition.”

“Oh?” Lea asked, interested.

“I, er. I know some magic. I’m on the Repellant team. If I could do that teleport thing my job would be so much easier. I have definitely seen one of you two kiddos out and about near the old mansion in the woods then, I think. Past few months, there’s been way fewer reports of Nobodies near settlements. My team would sometimes go on a call and the whole nest of them is already gone.”

Roxas nodded. “Yeah. I jet when I hear you guys come.”

“Ditto,” Xion added.

“You’ve been taking care of it?”

“It’s my home,” Roxas said, determined. “And I don’t want to see it hurt.”

Xion nodded heartily. “Yeah.”

“When you two get out of high school, you’d be amazing on the team you know. You’re doing more work than five of my squad combined, each.”

“Maybe,” Roxas said quietly. “I’m only doing it when I feel something real nasty coming.”

“You can sense them?” Violet asked. All four nodded. Even Isa could still feel one nearby, even if he couldn’t do anything about it.

Which often made it worse, in his opinion.

“Well,” Violet said quietly. “That brings us back to why you’re here, doesn’t it? It’s not that unusual for our family to take on an outsider family during Setsubun. We have done it nearly every year since I was Vice Mayor. But this particular year saw seven new families in our fair city. I picked yours on purpose. With what Isa told me when you moved here, I prepared your kits. Your bean bags are just filled with pellets. I didn’t want you four harmed.”

“O-oh,” Xion said quietly. “I didn’t feel funny when I picked up my box, I assumed it was enough protection from what was inside.”

Violet shrugged. “I’ll be honest. Nobody here knows why beans repel the creatures— the Dusks— just that it does work. Stories go that they always avoided the fields with kupo nuts. I mean, we mostly did as well. They’re a Moogle delicacy. One very drunk farmer years ago threw some of the pods at a pack of Dusks, and they avoided his farm for nearly a whole year. The next year, he went out and threw them near the city, and the Dusks stayed away. Maybe it’s the smell, maybe...”

“It saps our magic,” Roxas cut in. “It doesn’t affect yours, Mr. Hawthorne?”

“Hunter, please,” he replied. “And no, I can handle them.”

“Interesting,” Isa said, frowning. “I wonder why it only affects Nobody magic.”

“While it’s a question worth answering, I wouldn’t want to ask you all to help there,” Violet said.

“Yeah, not gonna,” Roxas agreed. “So, what, our bags are duds? You want us to just pretend?”

“It’s safer than the alternative.”

“Safe my butt,” Roxas hissed. “Someone hit us by firing them out of a pipe. We can do that.”

“Firing them out of a— **_HAYNER JUNIPER HAWTHORNE_**.”

“What?” the extremely guilty partly asked with the most innocent face he could muster, while Xion and Roxas mouthed ‘Juniper’ at each other.

“I… oh. I’m going to regret this. You four want to help for real?”

“Yes,” Xion said, determined. “This is our home too.”

“Hayner, whatever contraption you built, show them. Just do it in the woods, outside the wall.”

“Wait. I can make a PVC cannon?”

“Yes,” his mother sighed, pulling on her hair. “So long as Isa or Lea is present.”

“Are you going to… give me munny for this?” Hayner asked, eyes aglow.

“I… suppose I must, now,” Violet said, defeated.

“Let the boy have some fun, Vy, honestly, he’s safest with these four.”

Isa dropped his fork. “I… am glad you think so. I hope we continue to earn your trust.”

“Just… keep Hayner from blowing his eyebrows off, please,” Violet sighed. “Or any other body parts.”

* * *

“I should have told you three.”

Lea stopped under the overhanging bower of a willow tree planted to cascade over a wooden fenced yard. “You should have,” Lea said quietly. “But we moved here months ago now. Can’t change that.”

Roxas kicked a loose piece of cobblestone. “I just… want to know why. With Scrooge, we all spoke to him together. Same with Merlin. And, of course, Yen Sid already knew what we were.”

“It is no excuse, but it was Yen Sid’s condition to endorse us.”

“It **_what_**?” Lea nearly shouted. Isa shushed him with a glare.

“Perhaps we should get home and finish the discussion.”

“No,” Roxas hissed. “ ** _Explain_**.”

Isa exhaled; his breath visible in the chill of the air. “Yen Sid made his condition to endorse us that at least one person on the administrative board be aware of what we were, in case any issues arose. The last thing we needed was to be chased from our homes by an angry mob thanks to a misunderstanding. More so, now that I know the locals have a means of disabling your magic. Mine alone is hardly enough to stop it.”

Roxas ground his jaw. “Okay. **_Okay_**. I get the why. But you could have **_told us_**.”

“I… did not think to,” Isa admitted honestly. “I was so focused on making sure we had a home. It was foolish of me.”

“Be glad it worked out,” Roxas muttered.

“I am aware of the consequences.”

“Whatever,” Roxas muttered. “Can’t change what your dumb ah-“

“Roxas!” Xion cried. “Language!”

Roxas stopped in his tracks, barking out a laugh in surprise. “That’s what you’re worried about?”

“Look at Isa, Rox,” Xion insisted, flinging an arm at him. “Do you see how guilty he looks? This is eating him up inside. Isa had been a human what, two, three weeks when we started house hunting? He didn’t consider the consequences then. He’s trying!”

Roxas started to say something, but stopped a few times, his jaw working as he tried to rephrase his next comment in his head. “You’d just stopped being under the old jerk’s power too.”

“Isa had been under **_that old jerk_** ’s power longer than we were alive,” Xion said in a quiet fury. “I’ve buried the hatchet already. He’s already more than made up for it since. And didn’t we tell Hayner, Pence, and Olette what we were without telling Lea and Isa?”

“Telling the Vice Mayor is a little different than-“

“It’s still telling someone without letting all of us know,” Xion insisted.

“Xion, you don’t need to defend me,” Isa interjected quietly. “I deserve this.”

Roxas screamed at nothing, prompting a random dog in a house a few down the alley to yowl, as he stamped a foot. “No, no, you don’t,” he admitted, once he’d gotten the anger out of his system. “We all did dumb stuff. I’m just… it could have been a lot worse.”

“Yes,” Isa admitted quietly.

“Let’s go home,” Lea sighed.

Roxas stormed ahead, not looking behind him.

* * *

“The children are mad at me.”

Lea sighed, pouring something acrid smelling into a small snifter, passing it to Isa. “No, they’re mad at what you did, not at you.”

Isa downed the drink in a burning gulp, shoving the dirty glass in their tiny dishwasher a little too forcefully. “I should have done it with all of us.”

“You should have,” Lea agreed. “But we— **_I_** — also put you in charge of all the paperwork-y type stuff. It makes sense that you did that alone too. I should have been more helpful then. Couldn’t have asked the kids to, but it’s as much my fault. And I know Rox and Xion know that. So, they’re mad at what happened. And it’s harder to be mad at an event than a person, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

Lea reached forward, closing the space between them as he squeezed Isa’s hand in a grounding measure. “You did the best you could with what you had. I’m upset too, but I can’t be mad at you. Not for that. Now, come on, your hair is all tangled. Let’s get you cleaned up, you look like a wreck.”

“Speak for yourself,” Isa muttered.

“I’m going to take the next couple days off. Aqua’s been hounding me to, anyway,” Lea huffed into Isa’s blue mane. “She thinks I need to do some family time. Honestly, I’ve kinda been avoiding the hard stuff. Been doing the icky jobs so long I wanted to shirk responsibility for a while.”

“I’ve noticed,” Isa admitted. “I was giving you the space.”

“Should’ve whipped me harder, like in the old days.”

“I’d rather not.”

Lea draped his full weight on Isa’s back. “Is it wrong of me to miss the stability of that schedule? Three hots and a cot?”

“Lea, we were Nobodies for almost as long as we were people. And for most of the time we were humans, we were children. Of course you’d want what you knew most of. Anyone would.”

Lea sighed, squeezing Isa tightly. “Suppose so.”

“Now come, we’ll have to supervise the children to make whatever contraption they sprung on you a few years back. Or rather, I will supervise, and you’ll likely provide the pyrotechnics.”

Lea grinned into Isa’s hair. “Lea want big boom.”

Isa groaned. “Sometimes I believe I have three children.”

“You love me.”

“ ** _Regrettably_**.”

* * *

“Whoa, that’s a lot of stuff! Where’d you get the munny for this?” Pence asked, as Roxas, Xion, Lea, Isa, Hayner, Pence, and Olette sat out in the woods near, but not in sight of, the old mansion. Far enough outside the city they could practice firing the pipe rockets, but not in eyeshot of a place that still raised Roxas’s hackles to high alert. Isa had made Roxas’s favorite that morning— blueberry pancakes— as something of a peace offering, though it had surprisingly not been needed. Roxas grunted out a sorry, a thanks, and that was that.

Pence eyed the pair of adults warily, hissing at Hayner. “The Onis aren’t going to tattle are they?”

“Oh, that’s our nickname, huh?” Lea yelled out. “RAWR,” he added, flicking his eyes to make sure the area was clear before hurtling himself through a corridor to jump out in from of the teens (and teen adjacents).

“Aaaaah!” Pence cried as he fell on his rear into a pile of crisp dead leaves. “Red Oni!”

Lea shook his whole wiry frame as he laughed. “You’re too easy to scare, kiddo.”

“And you’re…”

“You can say it. I know you three troublemakers know what we are.”

“Nobodies,” Olette and Pence said in agreement. “How are you all walking and talking like people, though?” Olette added, before covering her mouth with a hand. “Sorry, that was really rude of me. You guys are people, like Little Chef and the McDuck family and the Moogles are people.”

“’S’ok,” Lea said smiling gently. “We didn’t call ourselves people for a long while.”

“But you are!” Pence insisted. “You’re not human, but you’re people.”

“Actually, I am human,” Lea admitted. “Isa and I both are. Xion and Roxas aren’t.”

Hayner, Pence, and Olette scrunched up their faces in confusion. “Wait, what? How?”

Isa rolled his eyes, observing from a comfortable lean against an old growth maple tree with a spigot bored in the side. “It is extremely long, extremely complicated, and suffice to say a discussion for another day. **_But_** ,” he added, with a small smile, “I do promise to explain. The three of you are owed that much for helping return Roxas to us.”

Hayner, Pence, and Olette’s faces lit up. “Really?”

“Yes, and,” Isa sighed. “I cannot believe I am saying this, but Hayner knows why you’re here. I am surprised he hasn’t told you yet.”

“He just said ‘come for a surprise,” Olette admitted. “But the stuff that’s here is the stuff for…”

“A PVC launcher,” Pence finished. “You two are okay with us building one?”

“More than okay,” Lea said with a grin. Isa made an exaggerated noise of defeat. “I’m going to show you some fire magic to give these bad boys some extra oomph!”

“If you’re concerned, Hayner’s mother allowed this, so long as a responsible adult was present. And it seems one is— **_me_**.”

“Yup, Isa’s got that covered, so I get to nerd out with you five,” Lea beamed.

“And I have the fire department on speed dial.”

* * *

Isa had just put the serving dish of pot roast down on the table when the doorbell rung. He winced, almost dropping the tray, smiling a little when three small green balls of Aero held the dish aloft from underneath. Carefully, he let go, and with some effort, added a fourth, tapping the floating dish until it landed above where he wanted it, and let it down gently.

Isa meandered to the door. Violet stood at the base of the steps with a handcart, hour boxes loaded on it. “Thank you for bringing my idiot son back in one piece.”

“Honestly, my partner was worse than the children. He gets reckless because he knows healing magic. Your son took all precautions. It’s quite a destructive tool, yes, but he handled it responsibly.”

The Vice Mayor smiled. “Well, I don’t have your brawn. These are the real bean bags. I suggest you use your air magic to move them. Open them carefully and see if you can handle them.”

“Thank you, ma’am.”

“Like my husband said Hunter, please, Violet for me, Isa. Just, be careful? Twilight Town would be a dull place without your family in it.”

Isa nodded, before yelling inward. “Roxas! Xion! Some help lifting these with magic?”

“Not you?” Violet asked.

“Aero was never a specialty,” Isa answered, dodging the question. “My prowess was always with physical skill, which doesn’t help me here. Thank you, Violet. See you on Thursday, then?”

She nodded, flipping the handcart and folding it up. “Yes. If anything changes, let me know.”

* * *

Isa put his hands slowly around the sides of the box. “I feel fine,” he announced to the four of them after dinner. “I am going to open this one.” Carefully, he sliced through the bindings with a knife, plunging his hand into the box of kupo nut bean bags. He liftyed a hand, and cast a tiny ball of Aero, satisfied. “My powers are no weaker than before. Roxas or Xion, would you want to get close?”

“I’ll do it,” Roxas said through grit teeth, approaching the box as if it were a Mimic, wincing before he even plunged his hand inside. He wobbled, passing out and rolling to the floor. Carefully, Isa frowned, pulling Roxas’s upper body away and moving him to the couch. He stirred almost immediately, groaning.

“I feel sick.”

“Rest, Roxas.” Isa ran a hand along his forehead, frowning.

“It seems as though proximity is fine, but direct contact is ill advised,” Isa stated. “I will carry everyone’s supply and load cannons.

“Isa, can you throw me just one?” Xion asked.

“I can, if you are sure.”

Xion swallowed, and nodded.

“Before I do, come near the box and hover around it, then step away.”

Xion slowly took one step, then another, until she was hardly an inch away. “It… I don’t feel so great, but its not that bad.”

“Explain.”

“I feel like something’s tugging at my stomach.” She held up a hand, casting Aero n a single bag in the box, letting it float at her eye level. “But I can do magic still.”

“Seems like it is just direct contact,” Lea agreed. “The kupo nut beans probably let off some sort of oil onto the bags, so that counts.”

“My thoughts, exactly,” Isa agreed, plucking the bag from the air. “I won’t throw, palm out, Xion.”

Nervously Xion held out a hand, palm up, and Isa held the bag inches from her, quickly dropping it on her clothes-covered shoulder first then on her exposed palm. While she seemed uncomfortable with the first touch, the direct exposure sent her immediately off balance and on the floor.

“Be glad you three were wearing your coats and gloves. Roxas and Xion were likely taken down just from eventual seepage or a hit to the face.” Carefully, Isa hauled Xion off the floor, laying her to recover on the reclining chair. “They might be fine if they handled these wearing gloves, but I do not wish to chance it. Lea? If you can touch them, we will load the cannons.”

Lea frowned, approaching the box. “I dunno. I mean, I’m human, Ienzo checked. But I still have my Nobody po-”

“Our children were less wishy-washy than you,” Isa reminded him. “And I will catch you if you fall.”

Lea frowned, and shoved his arm in the box, wincing, but did not faint. “It sucks,” he grunted. “I feel like my life is getting sucked out,” he added as he pulled his arm out and shook it off, snapping his fingers a few times to weak sparks. “I can’t tell if it’s affecting me or I’m just worried it is.”

Isa frowned. “If it is, it’s nothing severe. But the placebo effect can be quite strong.”

“Y-yeah,” Lea admitted. “Even if I am a bit Nobody, it’s not much. C’mon, lets haul the kiddos up to bed.” Carefully, Lea slung a grunting Xion over a shoulder, as Isa hefted a whining Roxas.

“Are you worried there’s still some left, or that not enough is?” Isa asked, as Lea opened a corridor to slide them upstairs to their rooms.

“I dunno. Not sure which is worse.”

* * *

“Is this entirely necessary?” Isa asked as Lea pulled tightly on a brightly colored sash.

“Necessary?” Lea laughed, swishing in his own, a firey red hexagonal pattern with a pitch black sash and accents. “No. But it’s traditional.”

“I look ridiculous.” Isa held up the hem, shimmering silver embroidery over a navy-dyed cloth.

“We all do,” Xion said, brightly, twirling in her royal purple robe with stylized aster flowers.

“How are we supposed to run in these if we get attacked?”

“Think about it from their perspective,” Roxas interjected, looking at himself and preening in the hall mirror, his robe checkered along the sash, sleeves, and collar. “If a Dusk is after you, you’re already a goner. Running doesn’t change it.”

Isa frowned. “I suppose— **_Lea_**! You’re doing that on purpose. Don’t pull so tight.”

Lea grinned and slung a large bag over his shoulder. Merlin had added a little Velcro flap to both their packs so they could reach in from the bottom and pull out ammo without dislodging the thing off their backs. Isa slung his own, while Roxas and Xion hefted their pipe cannons with marching conspiratorial grins.

“You two are only getting away with armed warfare because we are integrating in the community,” Isa reminded them with a glare and a pointed finger. “And furthermore… I request at least one go of it myself.”

Xion giggled. “Of course. Isa, Axel, Hayner texted. We need to meet the Hawthornes at our area.”

“Mitts, you two,” Isa chided, swishing in the robe, realizing why it made him uncomfortable. The shape and length felt **_just_** enough like he was back in his Organization coat. “Just in case. Keep them on until we’ve exhausted our supply.”

“Speaking of, what do we do with the beanbags?” Lea asked. “We just… leave them?”

“Yeah,” Roxas nodded. “They biodegrade pretty quick. Xion and I should stay out of the forest the first two weeks of January.”

Lea nodded. “I can patrol if there’s anything nasty. I’m off until the 20th anyway. Aqua, Terra, and Ven said they needed to go somewhere without me ‘n Kairi.”

“You’ve been ditched,” Xion sing-songed.

“Just means I can make dumb kissy faces at Isa.”

“Ewwwwww,” the kids replied in mock disgust.

“Come on, squirts, everyone’s waiting for us.”

Xion hefted her cannon, beaming. “Let’s show ‘em what it means to be a resident of Twilight Town, huh?”

Isa beamed, nodding quietly at their little brownstone as he locked it up behind them, Roxas already shuffle-running ahead, though thankfully not lost in the crowd of robe-garbed locals, Xion hurrying after to warn him to stay with the group, while Lea good-naturedly laughed at the two.

They had a lot of work left, the four of them. Things wouldn’t be mended overnight, or over week or month. But they would mend, and they would move on.

They were home.


End file.
